Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia | Research
Added on 2020-03-16
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Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 1PROJECT ON THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY ADULTS AND JUVENILES EFFECT ONCRIME IN AUSTRALIABy Student’s NameName of the ClassProfessor NameInstitutional AffiliationDate
Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 2PART A1.0 The Scope of the ResearchSubstance abuse is the use of drugs either by adults or children (juveniles) in a manner thatharms themselves or others within the surrounding (Eadie & Morley 2003). Juveniledelinquency, according to Nisar, et al. (2015), relates to the situation, where a child is foundguilty of an offence or antisocial behavior which is beyond the control of the parents. In thiscase, the child is taken to the juvenile court to be charged. On the other hand, when adults (above18 years) misuse drugs they are also taken to the adult court and charged as well. A studyconducted by Agnew, et al. (2008) shows that the correlation between the socioeconomic statusof the people in Australia is negatively influenced by uncontrolled use of drugs. In fact, Eadie &Morley (2003) asserts that for the last 10 years has been experiencing low productivity andincrease dependency ratio. The reports from the office of the US. Attorney indicates that crimehas been on the rise for the past 10 years. In fact, according to a report published by CDC (2016),both juvenile and adult arrest accounted for 10.2% and 14.1% and these were associated to theincreased crime violence in the country that stood at 26% above the minimum standard. In thesame report, 695 juveniles aged below 18 years were arrested for murder, 21,993 for theaggravated assault and 2,745 for forcible rape in 2015. On the other hand, the report indicatedthat adult arrest accounted for murder (24,768) and assault (2,623). The cases and arrests showthat the issue is becoming an epidemic in the society and this had promoted a lot of fear amongthe people from poverty.
Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 31.1 Problem of Statement According to the report prepared by UN (2017), there is an increasing number of violent casesassociated to substance usage which are aggravated by the youths and adults in the society.Besides, less research study has been conducted by the scholars about the social and economicconsequences of such activities to the society. Many scholars have done research related to thefactors which contribute to the actions related to abuse of substance in Australia. In fact, theissue has been on discussion since the early 1920s, showing that it is an essential aspect of thecommunity growth and the country at large. As early as 1927, Bridges (1927) had found that,neighborhood, occupational, school, home, mental conditions are among the factors leading tosubstance abuse. This study, therefore, is interested in finding the socioeconomic consequencesof drug abuse among children and adults in Australia to the contemporary society. This will helpthe judicial system, the society and the potential juvenile offenders, to abstain from it, andbecome better and law abiding people in the society. 1.2 Research Objective The main purpose of this research study is to examine the socioeconomic consequences of drugabuse by either the minor or the adults in Australian society today. To assess the economicfactors that causes the substance abuse among families.1.3 Research QuestionsThe study seeks to the objective by answering the following questions.1.What causes substance abuse among children?
Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 42.What is the major effect of drug abuse in society? 3.What causes substance abuse in adults?4.Have the use of drug substance affected the contact of the adults?5.How has the use alcohol or drug substance affected the contact of the adults?6.Name the main types of substance abuse7.Do you take any drug substance?8.Are you contemplating stopping the use of drugs?9. Do you need any help with regard to the use of drugs?10.Will you be willing to attend a rehabilitation center if provided? 2.0 Secondary Sources of InformationFamily plays an important role in controlling the young generation and ensuring that they operateas required by the law of a country. According to Alboukordi, et al. (2012), juvenile delinquencyis a major problem in the contemporary society because, the actions affects both the victims, theperpetrators, the family of both the victim and the perpetrators and the society at large. Theresearch by Alboukordi, et al. (2012) found that the structure of the family plays a major role inpredicting the juvenile delinquency behavior. In fact, 51% of the delinquents, reported agony inthe structure of their families. The study did not cover, how the delinquents affect their families,which will be covered in this report. According to Ferdoos & Ashiq (2015), juvenile delinquencyis an old and recurrent phenomenon which has been worsened by the growth of urbandevelopment. The study showed that there is an evidence of the general increase in the juvenile crimes in moreand large developed cities. Though, Burgess (1952) accepts the fact that, low income is not the
Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 5only source or single cause of juvenile delinquency, studies have shown that, the rise in familyincome, enables the families from the delinquency areas to non-delinquency ones. According toNisar, et al. (2015), the coercion theory plays an important role in explaining the behavior of theminors. Juvenile delinquency is becoming a modern crime problem, according to Ojo (2012),some theories, have been used by sociologists to explain the incidences of delinquencies amongthe minors. The theories include rational choice theory, strain theory, subcultural theory, socialcontrol, differential association and labelling theory. For this study, labelling theory will beexpounded to explain the juvenile crime behaviors.2.1 Labelling TheoryAccording to Ojo (2012), ones the minors have been branded as criminals, they will be likely tocause offence. The idea behind this theory according to Eadie & Morley (2003), is that, when aperson of group of people are branded to be criminals the community or the justice system, theindividuals will begin to believe that the label they have and start identifying themselves with thetag. Ojo (2012) Further claims that, ones the individuals are labelled, they tend to act like socialoutcasts will lead them to rebel the norms to stand up with the identity. In fact, Walklate (2003)noted that children from the poor backgrounds are more likely to be branded deviants. Thisanalysis by Walklate (2003), helps in explaining why a big number of juvenile delinquencyhappens in low-class society. The above literature analysis has helped in explaining the natureand causes of juvenile delinquency. However, its impact to the socioeconomic of the society hasbeen tackled. This study will analyses the socioeconomic consequences of such actions to thesociety.
Substance Abuse Effects on Crime in Australia 63.0 Research Method and Tools3.1 Research DesignThe study will employ the use of frequency tables to determine the level of agreement in termsof percentages by the respondent regarding the variables in question. This process will be chosendue to its simplicity interpretation and analyzing of the data by the researcher (Ojo 2012).The study will also employ the use of primary data, because the data collected represent the realeven and also cannot be contaminated (Ojo 2012). Therefore, questionnaires will be used tocollect the dataThe target population for the study will comprise 200 people and this will encompass bothchildren and adult aged between 15 to 65 years to enhance the study relevancy. Therefore,stratified random sampling will be used to distinguish group of children and adults (Ojo 2012).Fig1. Distribution of Children and AdultStrataFrequency Percentage (%)Adult12361.5Children7738.5Total 200100The sample size of 30 will used based on percentage method that will represented by 15% of thetotal population. Ojo (2012) asserts that as ample size of 5% to 30% is acceptable to capture theinterested of the population.
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